"Education is the key to unlocking inter-generational deprivation, as it offers the knowledge people need to live healthy, happy lives...By investing in education, the G8 can leverage huge returns in women’s and children’s health, nation- and peace-building, and global economic development now and in the future."
— Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mary Robinson and Muhammad Yunus in a June 2009 letter to the G8 leaders
"Education is the single best development investment a country can make. It contributes to better health, higher incomes, and increased participation in community life. These social and economic returns have been proven to be particularly high when girls are educated." - CIDA (from their website, but one we've used before)
(Source: http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/education-e)
“School fee abolition policies support poor households in coping with education costs and in keeping their children in school, and they are key in safeguarding the gains made on universal primary education. They are part of the broader social protection framework that should be placed high on the development agenda moving forward toward 2015,” UNICEF Director of Programmes Dr. Nicholas Alipui, June 2009
Komla, 9, has never been to school before the elimination of school enrolment fees in Togo, but is now receiving a free basic education. This will be his first time in a classroom. “I work in the fields with my parents,” he said. “But today I am going to school. I want to learn to read and to count in order to be a good businessman.”
Komla‘s story is not uncommon in Togo, where many parents do not send their children to school because of the costs – including both school fees and the loss of manpower and revenue for the family. At present, most children are not yet in school, as they are still busy helping their families with the last harvest.
The Akodessewa school is expecting a large influx of new students this year, and is considering hiring a new teacher to compensate. Previously in Togo, school fees of about $4 per year, per child, impeded the objective of education for all. In a country where more than 60 per cent of the population lives below the national poverty line, the savings realized by removing school fees are significant.
(Source: http://www.unicef.org/girlseducation/togo_45941.html)
